Pokémon: The Cycles' End
by YukitheRedFox
Summary: A mission gone horribly wrong. Five friends are separated when their simple plan to free stolen Pokemon takes an explosive turn. Injured and alone, our heroine must escape and put an end to their terror...
1. Chapter 1: The Aftermath

**A/N:** Right... I suppose its about time I put something up, instead of just freeloading and watching everyone else do the writing, ha...

Anyway, here's my first project, (only my second fan-fic ever written) currently titled "Cycles' End"; I suppose the reason I chose that title is because... well, you'll probably find out.  
On to the story! Hopefully, someone out there will enjoy.

(small note: probably best viewed at 1/2 or 3/4, dependant on screen resolution)

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Aftermath**

It was so confusing... she had awoken with a start when a loud noise erupted through the forest she found herself in— gunfire...? All she could pay attention to was the canopy above her motionless form; her thoughts were in terrible disarray. What made the situation worse was she was completely alone; not a soul in sight for as far as she could see. But... she felt weird; as though something was amiss with her. She could remember a fight breaking out inside an enormous warehouse, freeing Pokémon stolen by a trusted company, trying to find evidence it was them... but the rest was a blur—how had she ended up where she was?

She moved slightly to sit herself up when a sudden pain gripped her; that was when she noticed blood covering her left arm and an open wound where she recalled she had been shot by—_'Who?'_ She racked her brain for the information, but couldn't piece together who had actually shot her. She was with Ryan and Tori when they entered the complex; Fletcher and Arc had met up with them once they had disengaged the facility security and opened the warehouse gates for them to enter with the truck... but the question of who shot her still rang empty in her mind.

She was in a bad way; she had lost a lot of blood from the bullet wound in her arm, but also from the wound in her side. She could see another hole in her side as she pushed herself further from the ground. It had seemed to miss anything majorly important in terms of organs, but the pain... is was intense. She could feel herself going a little woozy at the thought, pulling herself back from throwing up at the thoughts she had in her mind. She didn't have time to be thinking about how this had happened now... she needed to find help—_fast_.

It took all her strength to pull herself up from the floor, where a small puddle of blood remained from where she had been lying down, unconscious. She stripped her gaze from the sight, feeling her stomach lurch again at the sight of it and slowly staggered towards the opening in the trees. She could smell smoke as she progressed, trying to keep herself steady as she pressed forward, trying to unsuccessfully block the pain out. Her right hand held her side, while her left arm was held limp; it hurt far too much to move and she needed to hold onto her side to at least try and numb down the pain, anyway. _'What the hell happened...?'_

As she came into the clearing, she could see the ruins of a building smoking heavily, but with little to no flames, as though the fire had been dealt with not long ago. But that seemed of little importance as she staggered forward, hoping she could find help, or even her friends nearby. She could remember Fletcher calling for her to look out—_'Before I got shot?'_ Everything was a mess... she could barely think at all and when she did, it was mostly on survival. There was a small hill just before her that she barely managed to climb, but reaching the top, she had wished she had gone the other way...

Below her, about 12 feet away, was the body of Fletcher. He was piled in a bloody heap, his left arm twisted in ways not humanly possible, with several bullet wounds covering his body and a look of complete horror across his still face. It was obvious to her who had gotten to him before her, but her thoughts wandered through her despair at the sight; was anyone else alive? Mere minutes from being gunned down by those scum?

She nearly threw up again, falling to her knees at the thought of the horrible things that had happened; everything had gone horribly wrong... but she needed to get out of here—as far away as possible to get the truth out there, to the people. At the very least, she could recall the thefts of Pokémon by Cyclone Inc.—whatever else there was she would have to rummage through her mind to recall; from the injuries she had sustained and the shock she received from seeing Fletcher's slain form, she was far from being all right.

She just barely managed to pull herself up and forced herself to walk away from the wreckage of the broken-down facility and back into the forested area she had come from—travelling in the cover of the trees and foliage seemed far safer than guiding herself along the hill.  
"Fletcher," she murmured in sadness as she wandered through the forest— quietly, but as quickly as her wounds would let her. There were several times where she could feel herself falling back to unconsciousness, but her fighting spirit kept her going. She had to do this, now—not only for Fletcher, but for the rest of her friends, who could be in a worse off position then her, if they were still alive. She just hoped that Arc, Ryan and Tori were still alive; fighting like she was...

As time passed on though, things started looking very bleak; at least more than they were. She had been stumbling through the forest for what felt like an hour now and found no end to the trees. Her mind was in complete panic, she cursed herself for ending up lost in a place where few people would think to look for her and even fewer would probably find her. She kept falling to her knees as she travelled, just barely managing to pull herself up each time she did. It felt like the forest was out to get her—once she gave up, everything would come and finish her off. The train of thought terrified her as she pressed onward, hoping that she would find some sign of humanity—soon._  
Thud._

She couldn't take it anymore; the pain she was enduring had finally caught up to her and she collapsed from it, unable to pull herself back up from the ground. Streams of tears started flowing out of her eyes as she slowly started to lose consciousness; her thoughts on the friends she would never be able to meet again.  
"Arc... Fletcher... Ryan... Tori... I'm sorry... I failed you all," she managed to utter, before blacking out, the cold forest embracing her fallen form...

* * *

**A/N:** Well, that's Chapter 1 of "Cycles' End". I'm a lover of Chapter conclusions like this... kind of.

Anyway, Reviews are welcomed, as is criticism! I know I'm not the greatest writer in the world, (far _far _from being so) so criticism is appreciated-- so long as its _constructive_!

Until next time, this is YukitheRedFox, headin' out!


	2. Chapter 2: The Saviour

**A/N:** Just a little note, today; I'll try and make it easy for people reading to follow the 'jumps'-- with dashes.

Three dashes will indicate an advancement in time, while ten will indicate a switch between characters.

* * *

**Chapter 2: The Saviour**

'_Talk about a lucky girl,'_ he thought to himself as he carried the injured blonde woman through the forest as fast as he could, his Fearow flying close. She was incredibly lucky that his Fearow had found her, mainly because she was quite a distance from his usual walking route; he would have never known about her otherwise. _'If I'm quick enough, I should at least be able to patch her up, until she can get some proper medical attention.'_ He wasn't used to seeing people on the verge of death; it kind of made him feel uneasy, but he could tell when someone was in mortal danger.

The return journey seemed to take forever with his rushing thoughts, but finally he had returned to his house in the forest. He rushed up to the door and carefully positioned the woman so that he could yank at the handle to get inside, quickly gripping her once again and rushing to where what little medical equipment he had was stored. He placed her on the chair and quickly rummaged through the numerous utensils; if he worked quickly—but carefully, everything would be all right.

He was still sweating from the mad rush he had done from where he had found her and quickly grabbed a towel that he had tossed on the floor the other day, while looking for his phone, mopping his brow before going to work on at least trying to save this woman. He couldn't help but think how beautiful she looked while sleeping; amongst the scratches across her face and the fact that she had two _bullet wounds_ in her—he snapped back to reality, cursing himself for thinking about such things in such a situation.  
"Stay focused, Ralph! Think about how pretty she'll be when she's patched up and _alive._"

---

'_Ahh... finally... I just hope it's enough, until I can get her somewhere more useful,'_ Ralph thought to himself as he looked at the still unconscious woman in front of him. He was a little calmer now; knowing that she had somewhat stabilised over the time he had been patching her up. He'd pulled a handgun bullet out of her shoulder, but it seemed the shot to her side was seemingly fired close enough for it to go straight through; in the process, completely missing anything that would have sealed her fate.

'_Looks like I need to thank my parents again...'_ he thought to himself; he hadn't considered a career as a doctor or anything until his parents had mentioned it to him—though he was still jobless, even _with_ his qualifications.  
"At least I can still make use of the skills," he muttered to himself as he looked at the motionless form that was limply resting in the chair, noticing how bloody and torn her clothing was from what seemed like her sprint through hell and back.

"How she's still alive, I'll never know," he muttered aloud to himself. _'Probably best she rests somewhere more comfortable though, right Ralph?'_ He nodded to his minds' question, picking her up and taking her into the bedroom just down the hall and to the right from the room he had patched her up in.  
"I should... probably take her out of those tattered clothes, too."

He mentally slapped himself for how he had said it—she was still unconscious, but he got the feeling she'd heard him; her face seemed to frown at the comment he'd made. On top of that, he felt a little nervous about... undressing her; his intentions were pure, but if she woke up in the process, he'd have a throbbing red hand mark on his face as a reminder where good intentions get you.

He averted his eyes as best he could as he took the bloody and tattered top off of her, quickly scrambling for the shirt, but carefully slipping her injured arm into the left sleeve. It took all his nerve to replace her top; the whole time, he was worried she'd wake up, but she thankfully hadn't—but he was definitely pushing his luck. It looked a little big on her, but it would do; after all, she wasn't going to be going anywhere.

He decided to leave her tattered jeans; for all intents and purposes, he didn't want to wake up tomorrow feeling like his head was triple its original size. He just plainly removed the running shoes and socks that she wore and placed them next to the bedside table, before pulling the quilt from over the bed and putting the unconscious woman down upon it.

'_I'll have to contact a hospital or something—see if I can get a doctor or something on stand-by to check her when she's awake,'_ he thought to himself, as he pulled the quilt over her. She seemed a little uncomfortable, though; as if she was cold or something—though he had just the remedy for that. He leaned out of the room, looking around until he saw his Flareon, resting in the living room. "Hey, Flareon," he quietly called; the fire Pokémon picked itself from the sofa it was on, stretching a yawning before walking over to its owner.

"How'd you like to keep our guest warm, until she wakes up?" he asked the Flareon. It smiled, giving an enthusiastic and obedient cry and walked by Ralph, carefully climbing onto the bed and making itself comfortable next to the woman. It seemed like a wonderful picture—a Trainer and her Pokémon taking a late morning nap.

That was when it suddenly clicked in his mind; the woman—she wasn't carrying any Poké balls with her when he found her. _'Would that mean she's not a Trainer, then...?'_ He put his hand on his chin and rubbed it a couple of times in thought; it wasn't very often you'd find someone out in the Eterna Forest without a Pokémon by their side—either as company or protection.

He left the thought for the moment; he still needed to get in contact with the closest hospital. He thought to try Eterna City's first, with Jubilife City as a second option, if need be and with that, he left the room in silence for his Flareon and the woman to rest.

----------

She lightly stirred from her seemingly eternal slumber, her head pounding with the biggest headache she had ever felt—as if a herd of Tauros were rampaging in circles through her skull. She pulled her right hand to her face, rubbing her forehead lightly as if to try and massage the pain away. _'Geez... what the hell happened,'_ she mumbled to herself as she slowly started to shuffle herself into a seated position, once again feeling the pain from her left arm lock her in place. She winced, pulling the light covers away from her arm with her right hand to see the bandaged wound she had suffered, suddenly making her realise she wasn't at home—and nor was she in that damn forest.

She looked around the room; it had plain walls coloured a creamy colour with wooden furnishings dotted around—a chest of drawers in front, at the bottom of the bed, a couple wardrobes to the right and a couple bedside tables at either side, where she noticed the toes of her running shoes poking out next to the one closest to the open door. She turned her head back to the plainly covered bed to see for the first time a red and yellow Pokémon staring at her; its face roughly two feet away from her own. She let out a light gasp, a little startled at seeing the Flareon so close to her, but seemed to remain calm, given the circumstances. She still had the horrible image of Fletcher's dead body embedded into her mind that almost made her cry once again, but she closed her eyes and steeled herself; she needed to stay strong... she needed to take revenge.

As she opened her eyes, she noticed the Flareon had vanished from its position on the bed, leaving a really warm patch where it had been; though the entire bed was warm, thanks to its body temperature. She shuffled herself up a little more with her good arm, and then pulled her left arm gently across her legs as the Flareon and a man with short, light brown hair and blue eyes; he seemed no older than she was and wore a blue short-sleeved shirt that had a chest pocket attached with a pair of black trousers.

She quickly pulled herself together, shuffling gently on the bed to straighten herself up.  
"So, are you the one who rescued me?" she asked him, her voice sounding weaker than she had anticipated it to be. To top it off, she started feeling sick again from remembering everything that had led to her being here in this man's house. She struggled to hold it back, but somehow managed, as he spoke up.  
"That would be me, though my Fearow should get the credit; were it not for him, I'd have never come across you—not to mention it's not often you see someone with such... interesting wounds out here."

His curiosity over her situation was obvious, but she really didn't want to talk about everything that had happened—not only was it painful, she didn't think she could stomach talking about it; at least right now.  
"That's... a long story," she simply said, hopefully implying to him that she didn't want to talk about it. She felt the sadness well up inside of her, feeling a few tears fall from her face. She could feel the gaze of the man on her skin and turned her head slightly to cover her emotions; not only was he making her feel uncomfortable for just glaring at her, but she didn't want to shed her emotions in front of a complete stranger.

A few moments silence fell over them, but didn't last long, as he started talking again; "Ahh, where are my manners! My name's Ralph. Pleased to meet you..." He seemed to purposely pause as if for her to fill in the name he didn't know, which was when she almost didn't answer; as if she had forgotten what her name was. It took her a few moments to pull herself together before she pulled the information from her mind.  
"Clara! Clara Reed," she said with a thankful sigh; she didn't know what she would have done if she had 'lost' her identity. Through all the madness that had followed the... incident, it seemed to have been pushed to the back of her mind with other questions burning brighter in her thoughts.

"Then I'm pleased to meet you, Clara—though I'd have hoped for better circumstances," said the man known as Ralph. He bowed a little before her, which ended up making her feel a little awkward, but she didn't pay much mind to it. She did have one question for him that burned in her mind, though; one that she probably should have asked when she awoke.  
"So... how long was I unconscious for?" She noticed that she still had the weak tone in her voice; she'd have tried to rectify it, but she felt far too weak to care.

"Let's see," started Ralph, as he pondered on the question for a moment. "You've been out for about six hours from when I found you in the forest—maybe thirty minutes to an hour before I found you, so at least six and a half hours. Its 4:22pm, at the moment." There was a moment of silence, then he continued; "I'm kind of surprised you were out for such little time, though; you were in a pretty bad way when you were found."

Silence filled the room once again; she felt a little awkward at the comment, but her thoughts were disturbed by the TV in the next room.  
"_This is Sinnoh Regional News and today's hot topic; the recent attack on a Cyclone Inc. Facility just outside of Eterna Forest. It is believed the activist group known as 'PSA'; a local group who have been assisting police in their efforts to rescue stolen and poached Pokémon, is involved in the explosion that ripped through Western Sinnoh earlier today. So far, there are many wounded, but only one dead; believed to be a member of the activist group in question. More on this, as the story develops. In other news..."_

The TV droned out of her mind, being replaced with a confusing mixture of anger and sadness towards the situation and the knowledge that the one dead person the news woman was talking about was Fletcher. She almost burst into a crying fit, feeling her resolve weaken ever so slightly at the knowledge they had already started covering their tracks, like they had with the Team Galactic scenario several months ago.

They were mere remnants of the broken team, but Arc had been investigating the remaining members and he knew it would only be a matter of time until they picked up where Cyrus left off; caution that paid off in the end, drawing them closer to the poached and stolen Pokémon mystery. _'But now...'_

"Ralph... I have a favour to ask of you," she snapped herself out of the slight daze she was in and seemed to snap him out of his glaring; he certainly liked to stare at her a lot. He nervously answered, seeming to see the slight irritation in her expression at his insistent staring; "What would that be?"

"I... know some people in Oreburgh that can take care of me; I wouldn't like to impose any more on you than I already have, so I was wondering if you would be able to take me there." She hoped that her request would go unchallenged, but that hope faded when she saw his face show concern; she had a feeling she knew what he would say next.

"I'd much rather take you to a hospital or something, first; make sure you're on the road to recovery. I could only do so much and wouldn't feel right if you collapsed again." It was something he said with great concern for her well being and though she wanted to challenge it; tell him how much of a bad idea that would be for her, she couldn't. She didn't have the energy to reject his concern.

"...then fair enough," she reluctantly started, "I'll have myself checked at a hospital, if you'll take me to Oreburgh straight after." His face seemed to brighten a little; seemingly happy at the response he got from her.  
"Great. I'll go get everything ready," he said, but paused just as he was about to leave the room; "Oh... there's not much you can wear to replace your damaged clothes, but you can have a look to see if you can find anything in the wardrobe on the right." He then wandered off, the noise of the TV instantly fading a few moments later.

She smiled at how kind Ralph was, when she noticed the Flareon sat on the bed once again, staring up at her. She stroked the Fire-type behind its ear; it making sounds in a happy manner. She'd always liked Pokémon like Flareon; they made amazing companions.

"Oh, that's right," she muttered quietly to herself in almost a whisper; "I left my Pokémon at HQ... well, I'll have to show you my friend another time," she happily said to the Flareon; at least as happy as she could muster, as the Flareon seemed to respond in a gleeful manner.  
"But right now, I need to get some clean clothes." She carefully got out of the bed, pulling the covers away from her; the sudden movement made her feel a little dizzy, forcing her to sit down on the bed for a moment before standing and walking over to the wardrobe. _'He's probably right; I should really get myself checked out,'_ she thought to herself, as she pulled open the wardrobe doors. She still needed to avenge Fletcher... and find everyone else; it was blinded by her rage, but she had realised the mention of a single death indicated that everyone was still alive.

With that new-found hope, she would press on.

* * *

**A/N:** Well, that's Chapter 2 for you few folks who are keeping track of this story! Once again, I'll state that Reviews of almost any kind are appreciated; if they're in criticism, please make it _constructive_ so I can work on trying to rectify my low-to-average writing skills... heh...

Anyway, I hope you all stick around for Chapter 3. As of adding this Chapter, I haven't thought of how to advance the tale much, but you should see it soon enough.  
YukitheRedFox, headin' out!


	3. Chapter 3: The Wish

**A/N:** Well finally, huh! About 4 months since I updated this... apologies to those who have been reading it, but University started to take its toll on me... again... I guess the point is, its finally here though, right? After all, there are some stories that take even longer to update, heh...

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the next Chapter of "Cycles' End". The ending was something I was really trying to get right, but in the end, I kind of think it turned out to look a little rushed...

* * *

**Chapter 3: The Wish**

She walked back into the bedroom she had awoken in, straightening the shirt that Ralph had put on her while she was unconscious; she had taken note that there was still blood on her that she assumed he had felt uncomfortable clearing off, so she had used the bathroom before changing into more comfortable clothes. It was a struggle, but she had managed to fit herself into the clothes that Ralph had stored in the wardrobe; only being able to effectively used one arm was a huge disadvantage for her, but at least she was right-handed. The bigger question for Clara was what this guy was doing with a stack of women's clothing when he clearly lived with just the Pokémon he owned. It was a strange instance of convenience that she didn't like, but at least she didn't have blood-stained clothing any more.

She had picked out a pair of blue jeans from the wardrobe—probably the most trouble she had ever had getting them on, and a white blouse; the only top she could find inside the wardrobe. It seemed like it was haphazardly emptied at some point; a few summer dresses and such were all that were in there and in her current condition, she didn't feel like frolicking in the forest in a dress.

Another challenge awaited; shoes and socks. Never in her life had she found it so difficult to do the simplest of tasks, but after a few minutes fumbling with one hand to get them on, she was ready; at least as ready as she would ever be, given the situation. Her thoughts were more on the safety of her friends than her own health, which strangely seemed better than it had been when she was dressing.

She shrugged off the thought on her health, concentrating on getting this little hospital visit over and done with so she could make her way to the Oreburgh HQ; she hoped that Arc, Ryan and Tori had managed to get there more or less safely, but knew they would probably be in a similar situation to her. She was lucky enough to be found, but would the others have been so lucky? She shook her head, trying to get rid of that train of thought; for all she knew, they could have gotten away without injury and on that thought, she moved on.

She stroked the Flareon that sat on the bed before leaving the room to find Ralph; it was about time they got themselves leaving were she to reach Oreburgh City as soon as possible. Maybe she could get Ralph to take her there straight after the hospital. It didn't take her long to find him, as he was preparing the stuff he needed in the small living room of his house, a Fearow perched on the back of the sofa as he did so.

"So this would be the Pokémon I have to thank for finding me, huh?" she said as she walked further into the small room.

Though a little startled at the voice suddenly coming from behind him, he kept his composure; "Ahh... yeah, this is my Fearow," he said, turning around and scratching the side of the Pokémon's head. "He was my first Pokémon. I rescued him when he was a Spearow, after he'd been separated from the rest of his flock and ended up near a very agitated Tyranitar's nest." He trailed off and remained silent for a moment, before looking over to Clara, moving his hand from his Pokémon's head and to the Poké ball she just then noticed resting on the arm of the sofa, returning the Fearow to the Poké ball with a familiar red light.

"Well then, if you're good to go, we can hit the road and go to Eterna. We should be there just before dusk," said Ralph as he pulled the backpack up and threw the strap over his shoulder. She hesitated for a moment, but nodded nonetheless; she just wanted to get this out of the way as soon as possible and be on her way to Oreburgh. After Ralph did a quick check of the house and returned his Flareon to its Poké ball, the two were on their way to Eterna City in the midnight blue pick-up truck

* * *

The journey to Eterna City progressed quietly; the two stayed mostly silent as the vehicle bounced along the bumpy dirt road that led through Eterna Forest; Ralph had occasionally broken the silence by making mention of some places, such as the strange rock and the abandoned mansion, but he seemed to make sure he didn't touch on the subject that plagued her the most—for which she was grateful for.

After an hour or so, they left the forest behind, arriving at a bridge over a large lake, with a big city on the other side—Eterna City.  
"Well, there it is," said Ralph with a bit of a smile on his face; "The hospital isn't far from the western entrance to the city, so we should be there pretty soon." She looked at the clock on the dashboard of the vehicle; it read 6:30pm. Her expression fell from a gentle smile to a slight frown; the unfortunate thing would be she would have to travel to Oreburgh on foot in the dead of night at this rate, seeing as Ralph would probably want to spend the night in Eterna City.

She looked up to see the city gradually getting closer as they crossed the bridge; on the walkways of the bridge were a few fishermen packing up to call it a day. The road was rather quiet despite the incident that happened in the forest, but the reason soon became apparent when they reached the entrance of the city.

"Looks like they've been there for a while," stated Ralph as he began to show the vehicle down; Clara's gaze almost looked horrified when she saw a barricade of two patrol bikes and a police car blocking the road, but somehow managed to compose herself as they got closer having noticed the few officers that were stationed at the blockade notice their approach.

It didn't take Ralph long to pull up to the officers, immediately stopping about twenty feet from where they had once stood. Two of the officers were holding flashlights and flicked them on as they approached the doors of the vehicle. "Evening officers," said Ralph with a calm tone as one of the officers approached the drivers' door; it was a tone that only Ralph could hold, having no idea he was travelling with one of the people they were likely looking for...

"Just monitoring those who enter the city; you probably know that an attack was made on a Cyclone Inc. facility near Eterna Forest and we've been put on alert to keep an eye out for any suspicious characters," replied the officer as he looked into the car.  
"Well, I'm just travelling to the hospital; my friend here has a few injuries we'd like the doctors to take a look at." Ralph retained his innocent expression; Clara just sat there, trying not to look at all suspicious to the officers. One of them had come to the side of the car she was sat in, looked at her for a while and then shook his head to the other officer next to Ralph.

"Well then, carry on sir; hope your friend isn't too seriously injured," said the officer as he pulled back from the pick-up truck and waved over to the other officers to move the vehicles blocking the way. Ralph nodded as he carried on driving toward the hospital, while Clara remained a little nervous from the encounter; she was very surprised the officers hadn't done anything. _'This is starting to feel a little uncomfortable,'_ she thought, as they went around a corner and onto the street the hospital was situated on.

* * *

"Well?" questioned the officer that had approached the blue vehicle on the drivers' side to the other. They both stood there as the vehicle disappeared into the city and after the moments' silence, the other officer spoke up; "She's the one. She was extremely nervous when I approached the vehicle, though trying to hide it." His comrade nodded, pondering for a moment before responding.  
"We'll contact HQ and see what they want us to do. You contact the hospital and have the doctors discreetly keep her there. The man doesn't seem to know who he's travelling with..."

* * *

It didn't take them long from the Eterna City entrance to reach the hospital; the tall white stone building sat about half way down the street and as they got closer, its size started to show, the building must have had at least twenty or more floors to it.  
"Well, here we are," said Ralph as he pulled up on the handbrake after slowing the vehicle to a stop in the small car park; it looked far smaller than would be expected of such a big building, but Clara didn't care about such trivial thinking. She shook herself mentally and opened the door of the car, climbing out into the cool evening air.  
"So it seems," she finally responded, looking up at the tall white structure before her; soon she would be able to head back to Oreburgh... and hopefully meet up with Arc, Ryan and Tori. The sooner she got back on the road, the better.

Ralph took the lead and led Clara towards the main entrance of the building, passing a small Milotic-shaped fountain that rested several feet from the hospital doors, splitting the path to either side. But it was strange... over the time she had been travelling, though she hadn't thought about it on the way, it seemed she felt a lot stronger than before. If she hadn't witnessed the events that had led her to where she was now herself, she'd think nothing had ever happened.

She snapped herself back to reality, noticing that Ralph had gone into the building without her and seemed to have immediately started a conversation with a blonde, middle-aged female doctor inside. She quickly moved to enter the building, the electronic doors sliding open as she approached the two.  
"Good day to you, ma'am; I am Doctor Iraya," began the doctor, who bowed before her as to be courteous. "Your friend here tells me you were involved in some form of misunderstanding that wound up getting you pretty gravely injured." She paused for a moment, looking at Clara in a way that made her feel rather uncomfortable and then continued; "Would you mind if I examined your injuries to make sure all is well with your friends' medical attention?"

Though against her judgement, Clara nodded; if things turned out horribly, she could always slip out of the city somehow. After all, her ultimate destination was only a few miles from the south end of Cycling Road.  
"Well then, if you'll please follow me," said the doctor, who directed Clara's attention toward the elevator doors just a few meters from where they stood. Hesitantly, Clara moved towards them as the nurse turned toward Ralph; "This way, please; there is a cafeteria on the floor we will be going to that you can wait at during the examination."

"Right. Thank you, doctor," he replied as he followed the two women into the elevator. The doctor pressed the button for the twentieth floor, which made Clara inwardly gulp; any plan for an easy escape had been demolished by the white light coming from the button, as if a beacon to her doom. She inwardly shook the over-exaggeration out of her mind, instead focusing on getting this examination over with. The uneasiness had followed from their arrival and had not lifted with the lack of police presence within the city; it seemed to just make the feeling worse.

Suddenly, the lift began to slow and a gentle sound indicated their arrival at their destination; floor twenty. The doctor walked out, Clara and Ralph close behind her; she turned to Ralph and indicated to him that there was a cafeteria just down the hall. With a nod, he turned to her and said, "I'll see you soon. I have a feeling they won't be holding you for long."  
'That's what I'm hoping for,' she thought to herself, as she gave him a half smile before he disappeared around the corner, leaving her with Doctor Iraya.

* * *

The doctor had taken her to a dressing room on the other side of the twentieth floor, where she had been told to take her top off and put on the gown that she would find folded up on the table. As she did so, Clara soon found something rather odd; the pain she had felt before when dressing herself in Ralph's home was gone. Quickly whipping the top over her head and proceeding to take away the bandages wrapped over the wounds, she looked on her body at where the pain had been before... and saw nothing but a scar; the only evidence that anything had actually happened to her.

She slumped in the chair that was sat next to the table, unable to register the miraculous recovery her body had seemed to perform; it was something she would have only expected to occur in the science-fiction films she used to watch as a child. Her astonishment was soon broken by a knock at the door, the doctor's voice soon following; "Are you ready, Clara? We're ready to start the examination."  
The voice startled her a little, but she silently composed herself and reached for the hospital gown, putting it over her in the same movement. "I'm ready," she said simply, before the door to the room opened and Doctor Iraya entered, gently smiling at her as she remained seated in the chair by the table.

"Well then, let's have a quick look at your injuries, shall we?" said Doctor Iraya. Clara complied and pulled down the left sleeve of the gown she had been told to put on, revealing the scar of where she had been shot; she felt a little uneasy as the 'recent' wound came into the gaze of the doctor, who immediately widened her gaze in both shock and an odd hint of glee, as if she had been shown a miracle-cure for some kind of terminal disease. The doctor edged toward Clara.  
"This scar... couldn't possibly be the wound, could it...?" Clara simply turned her head to the back wall and gave a gentle nod as if to indicate to her that it was the recent wound inflicted by a bullet.

"That's impossible... and yet I'm seeing it with my own eyes," said the doctor; it was obvious she was thinking the situation over, and after a few minutes of rather awkward silence, she piped up again, almost startling Clara.  
"If you don't mind, I would like to give your body a scan; maybe to give us answers on what could have caused this... rapid healing." Clara felt like she had no choice in the matter, as the doctor jumped up, uttered that she would be back in a moment and vanished out of the door almost faster than Clara had chance to react. Things were getting far more complicated than she had ever wished them to be...

* * *

Though discomforting, the scan itself was fairly straight forward and lasted just a few minutes. After showing her to a room that she could rest in for the night, Doctor Iraya told her that the results would be ready in roughly half an hour; she had been sat there on the bed for at least half that time now, waiting to hopefully find out what was happening for her to recover from the kinds of wounds she had in less than twenty-four hours.

"Mind if I come in?" said a familiar voice from behind her; she turned to see Ralph stood in the doorway holding two cups and after a second of thought, nodded. He was as friendly a face she had at the moment and she welcomed the company from the dreary silence that enveloped the room. He passed her one of the cups of coffee he had brought and sat down in the chair that was set next to the bed.  
"So... how was the examination?" It was a hesitant question; one he was not truly expecting an answer for. Clara just looked into the cup he had given her for a moment and as she lifted her head to face him, Doctor Iraya entered with a strangely chipper expression on her face.

"Here are the results!" She teasingly waved a few pieces of paper in her hand before continuing on; "It looks like there was some abnormal elements in your body. Not DNA as such, but more like a 'Spiritual presence' of sorts." Clara and Ralph looked at each other with equally confused expressions on their faces, as the doctor continued.  
"What I'm basically saying is that the scans show the Spiritual presence of a Pokémon acting to save your life with some sort of move! No one ever thought that a Pokémon's moves would be able to perform such acts as accelerated healing on humans. This is a phenomenal finding!" Doctor Iraya had gotten herself worked into a frenzy of glee, almost missing Clara and Ralph asking her what else the tests had shown.

She quickly composed herself and looked at the paper once again, and then turned it towards the pair, showing them the details of what they had found. "It looks like an extremely powerful Pokémon came to your aid while you were injured, and that Pokémon used some sort of progressive recovery move on you." She paused for a moment, to let what she had told them sink in a little, before moving on to her request; "I'd also like to investigate this further, if you'd permit staying a few more days, so that we can determine what kind of Pokémon it was."

Another below-the-waist blow to Clara's plans... a few hours was one thing, but a few days would no doubt wind her up in some serious trouble. She slightly hesitated, but did not want to start commotion; particularly on such a high floor. "Very well, I'll remain here a little longer," she said, guising her true intentions with false curiosity; she was not really too interested in finding out what kind of Pokémon it was that had helped her. She was grateful to be sure, but at that moment, she just wanted to leave.

"Wonderful! We'll let you rest tonight and if you're comfortable with it, we'll start the tests and examinations tomorrow," said Doctor Iraya, before she turned to leave; "Oh, and Mr. Ralph; we have guest quarters down the hall. Please use one of those rooms, if you wish to stay." With that, she said goodnight and left the two in the quiet room.

"I think I'll take up that offer; it's starting to get pretty late," said Ralph as he pointed out of the window. The sun had been gone for a while now and the stars were beginning to sparkle in the night sky over the city; only the vague light of the moon shone dimly through the window. "So it is," said Clara rather quietly.  
"Well then... goodnight, Clara," said Ralph rather quickly, after a brief moment looking out over the quiet city.

She turned to him as he left, managing to utter a few words, before he left the room. "Ah... goodnight, Ralph," was all she managed, before he stopped at the door, gave her a light smile and nodded; "See you in the morning," he said, before leaving for his own quarters. She remained stood there for a short moment, looking at the empty doorway of the room; all was silent beyond its opening after a while and the only sound she could hear was the sound of her breathing.  
"Sorry, but I won't be here," she quietly muttered to herself, before turning back to the window...

* * *

It had been a while now, but Ralph just could not get himself to sleep; he kept tossing and turning in the bed, his mind thinking about the events that led him back to Eterna City. Though he lived nearby, he had not been to Eterna for a long time after what happened the last time...

He shook his head, not wanting to think about it and soon found himself getting up out of bed and leaving the room; when he couldn't sleep, he knew just what to do. Thankfully, the coffee machine was just around the corner and at the far end of the hall was a nice balcony area where he could sit out in the moonlight. He loved the great outdoors; it was part of the reason he left his hometown to live in Eterna.

His coffee in hand, he turned towards the balcony, but paused when he heard a slight noise behind him. He took a quick look over his shoulder, but could see nothing; the hallway was completely empty. Shrugging the noise off, he pressed onward, pushing open the doors that led to the balcony. He took in a deep breath of the night air and sighed; picking up the Poké balls for his Pokémon and releasing Flareon and Fearow, so they could enjoy it, too.  
"I think you two could do with this, huh?" He muttered; his Pokémon stretching before repeating what Ralph had done just a moment ago. "Once we hit Oreburgh with Clara, we can head back home," he said mostly to himself, but not ignoring his Pokémon, who seemed pretty eager about the idea.

He leaned over the balcony to look at the ground below, looking at the streetlights that acted more like spotlights in the darkness. It was then he noticed a figure running along the path occasionally. It was pretty surprising to see someone out at this time in Eterna City; with no major attractions other than the Gym— which he knew was closed at night, there was no real reason for anyone to be out. He tried to focus on the person, but he was far too far away to be able to see anything; being twenty floors up made people almost look like ants.

"There he is!" he heard a voice shout from behind him; footsteps gradually came closer to where he stood and as he turned around, his gaze was met by a strong glare from a man who seemed to be dressed rather smartly; he wore a full suit tailored in white fabric, with a black pinstriped tie and shoes. He seemed to be middle-aged; around his late forties to Ralph's reckoning, with short, flat brown hair that seemed to be slightly going near the roots. He had a small, thin moustache that seemed to be going the same and it seemed to twitch as he stopped and began to talk to Ralph; "So then, where have you hid her, boy?" questioned the man in a rather regal tone; as though he held himself above what Ralph assumed he would call 'commoners'.

"Who are you talking about?" questioned Ralph, genuinely unable to register who this man could be looking for, before it clicked; _'Hold up... maybe he's looking for Clara,'_ he thought, looking at the man soon after.  
"Don't play dumb, boy! That woman the doctors said you brought in! Where is she?" His phrase was more a demand than a question and Ralph could feel it; "You mean Clara? She should be in her room, and if it has anything to do with that incident in the forest, she isn't one of the PSA. That was all a misunderstanding."

"What are you blundering on about, fool?" said the man in a snobbish manner, indicating unjust frustration towards him; "She's one of the main members of the whole PSA movement and even a close friend to the organisation's founder!"  
"She's gone?" questioned Ralph, as the neatly dressed man stepped a few paces closer to him and pointed toward him with a rather threatening tone to his voice as he said, "Now tell me where you whisked her away to, or—"

"Check the security feeds if you're so sure it was him," declared a female voice that Ralph was all too familiar with; "Leave him be until you can wave prove in his face." He shuffled to the side to look past the man who had turned to do much the same to see the one person Ralph was inwardly hoping to avoid for the time being.

"Heh... hi there, Gardenia," said Ralph with a rather nervous tone.

* * *

**A/N:** Ooooooh, what's this now! Well... you'll have to wait for the next Chapter to find out~! Hehe!

But really, the last... 10 or so paragraphs were kind of hard for me to finish off, but hopefully I've done them to at least an enjoyable standard. I've no idea when the next Chapter will be up, but I'll try to work on it some this weekend.

Until next time!  
YukitheRedFox, headin' out!


	4. Chapter 4: The Fallen

**A/N:** Well! I told you I'd start working on my other projects again, and here's another Chapter to Cycles' End! This Chapter has been nearly finished for months... but I just lost track of time, and then didn't want to finish it, because it comes to under 3 pages in Word, and that kind of length didn't seem suitable for a Chapter... but I finished it anyway, because there's no real point in dwelling on little things like that! Chapters don't have to be insanely long anyway, and I didn't want to fill it out with fluff, and make it deviate from the original concept of the Chapter.

Err... anyway, I hope you enjoy the continuation of Clara's 'journey'!

* * *

**Chapter 4: The Fallen**

Things were not looking good. Sure, she had pulled him out of a pretty sticky situation, but he was far from safe. 'Out of the frying pan and into the fire,' was the saying that came into mind, which was ironic, considering Gardinea was the Eterna City Gym Leader. He shook his wit aside once Gardenia had started speaking again, however; she still seemed far from happy and he knew exactly why...

"So... you've finally returned to Eterna, huh?" her voice came with a sharp tone, but Ralph remained silent as she continued; "With the Gym, you knew I couldn't get away around this time of the year... so why didn't you come and visit?" Her tone had almost shifted from the obvious anger to a hint of sadness, which made him feel even more nervous; he truly did care greatly for her, but that extremely cheery disposition she had was truly a mixed bag, of sorts. Her angry side was something no one would want to cross, though.

"Well... you see... I thought you might have wanted a bit of time to yourself, so that you could concentrate on the Gym for a bit," he nervously replied, hoping his extremely flimsy excuse would cut it for her. She tilted her head at him, seemingly a little confused as to why he would think such a thing, making him mentally slap himself in the face.

"But anyway, I'm here now! Besides, if I hadn't have gone back to my place, I wouldn't have found that woman!" he said, desperately trying to change the tide of the conversation into a favourable topic, but her gaze narrowed at him, making him feel like he had just been thrown in front of the firing squad.  
"You do know she's a felon, don't you?" she questioned, reminding him of the incident with the middle-aged man about an hour ago. He rubbed his forehead a little and continued his plea of innocence; "Well I didn't know that when I found her... but even if I did know, I would have still helped her. I can't leave anyone to suffer; even if they are criminals."

Gardenia stood there for a moment, admiring what Ralph had just said to her; he was a very selfless person at times, even if it was a danger to his own life. She closed her eyes and smiled slightly, as if understanding exactly where he was coming from on the matter. "As selfless as when we first met," she said aloud, "But that didn't stop you from going all-out with that Flareon of yours."

"Heheh... still got that fresh on your mind, huh?" said Ralph; it had been over a year ago that he had arrived in Eterna City to take on the Eterna Gym. Though he lived nearby, he had rarely travelled to Eterna City after leaving his parents and their disappointment in him behind. After battling Gardenia, he remained there for some time, and the pair started to gradually become closer to the point where he ended up not continuing his Gym Challenge.

"But don't think I'll let you off so easily, Ralph! I'm still not happy with you for just vanishing on me like that," said Gardenia; it was obvious she meant what she said, and Ralph would have his hands full trying to make it up to her. But still, he was glad to have gotten another chance to redeem himself; he was pretty good at ruining chances he had when things were starting to go his way, and this was one chance he was not planning on squandering so foolishly.

* * *

The streets of Eterna City were pretty quiet tonight, though there was obviously a greater police presence that Clara definitely did not appreciate, given the circumstances. She remained hidden outside the hospital for a while, until she saw a smartly dressed gentleman enter the building, and a minute or two later, a woman she recognised as the Eterna Gym Leader, Gardenia—though something was a little different about her from what she had heard...

'_Is this really the time to be thinking about that? You _do_ have more important matters to take care of, you know,'_ she mentally lectured herself, pulling her thoughts from the weird stint they seemed to follow, and onto the more important matter of finding a way out of the city without being seen by the authorities. Just looking around made the city look like it was under curfew, though admittedly she had no idea what time it was; the streets were bare of life either way, with the exception of the police officers littering the streets in pairs.

"Well, sitting in the bushes isn't going to get me anywhere," she silently mumbled to herself before taking a quick peek out of her natural hiding place to make sure that the coast was clear. The advantage would essentially be hers, were it not for the fact she was wearing a white top, requiring her to be that much more cautious as she progressed to the south exit of Eterna City. Regardless, she waited for her best chance and bolted for the next piece of cover she could see.

The trip to the southern exit had felt like one extremely long marathon, however; there were several instances where she ended up having to skip around alternate routes to avoid some of the police officers that blocked her from her destination, and even ended up having to flee after almost getting caught scurrying around the back doors of the local bike shop while trying to find alternate routes passed the patrols. Her heart raced the whole time, while she cursed her stupidity for not picking appropriate clothing for the task at hand.

Though it took longer than she would have liked, she eventually managed to reach the small path that lead down the side of the building at the top of the Cycling Road; it was pretty strange to find such a convenient path that allowed her to avoid the guards inside the building. She figured it to be some sort of maintenance route that probably contained hatches along the route so that any maintenance personnel could perform the regular checks that the road underwent to maintain its condition without having to shut down the road during the day; since the road had been slightly expanded and was now used by vehicles, concerns over its condition had been risen. Concerns that currently remain unfounded, as the road had obviously kept up well under the additional weight, though it was usually only commercial vehicles that used the route, anyway.

She shrugged off her train of thought and just carefully progressed along the small path, trying to remain out of sight by crawling as she searched for the maintenance hatches; there was no way she would be able to get by the officers that were patrolling the road, considering the fact that the narrow walkway had at least three blocking her ability to slip by unnoticed. The danger was, it seemed the maintenance hatches were very close to where the officers were standing, forcing her to get dangerously close to them. She mentally cursed the bad luck she seemed to be having, until she just barely caught glimpse of a hatch that seemed to have been left unsecured.

'_Okay... carefully does it,'_ she mentally warned herself as she tried to quietly lift the hatch to reveal an opening, which she could just barely see had a ladder that led down the pillar supporting the road. Clara was usually fine with heights, but these kinds of heights...  
'_This doesn't sit well with me, at all...' _She sat there for a moment, trying to reassure herself that she'd be fine—it wasn't _that_ far down, after all!

Having steeled herself as much as she could, Clara reluctantly began to climb through the opening and down the ladder, making sure to lower the hatch before proceeding to the bottom. As the climbed down, she constantly reminded herself not to look down; despite the fact it was dark, just looking into darkness would probably make her feel even worse. But soon after, a tree that was close to the pillar began to lightly rustle. In the eerie silence that surrounded the Route below, it played with her mind as she looked closer, to try and see if she could see what was there.  
'_Was that... just my imagination...?'_

She peered closer again and waited a moment... and then a flock of Murkrow burst out of the tree, cawing as they flapped their wings and fled into the sky. The huge shock of the 'attack' startled Clara, and soon, her grip on the ladder had been lost. Her heart began to race wildly as she tried to grab for the bars, but it came too late. As the cold night air rushed by her as she fell, she almost screamed out, until she clamped her mouth shut—_'What good will that do me? Scream and have them find me, or stay quiet and die alone in some bushes!'_

Her brain was in immense panic, as she plummeted towards the ground...

* * *

**A/N:** ...what? Oh, you knew it would come to something like this, anyway! You'll just have to wait for the next Chapter... hehehe...

Anyway, hope you enjoy the new Chapter. I'll try to make it a little more regular in getting these things updated...

Until next time!  
YukitheRedFox, headin' out!


End file.
